The original intent of the study was to develop a first-order synopsis of island hydrology with an integrated geologic basis on a global scale. As the study progressed, the aim was broadened to provide a framework for subsequent assessments on large regional or global scales of island resources and impacts on those resources that are derived from global changes.
Fundamental to the study was the development of a comprehensive framework—a wide range of parameters that describe a set of "saltwater" islands sufficiently large to
The comprehensive framework, which is referred to as the “Primary Island
Set,” is built on 122 parameters that describe 1,000 islands. To complement
the investigations based on the Primary Island Set, two supplemental island
sets, Set A—Other Islands (not in the Primary Island Set) and Set B—Lagoonal
Atolls, are included in the study.
The Primary Island Set, together with the Supplemental Island Sets A and B, provides a framework that can be used in various scientific disciplines for their island-based studies on broad regional or global scales.
The study uses an informal, coherent, geophysical organization of the islands that belong to the three island sets. The organization is in the form of a global island chain, which is a particular sequential ordering of the islands referred to as the "Alisida."
The Alisida was developed through a trial-and-error procedure by seeking to strike a balance between "minimizing the length of the global chain" and "maximizing the chain’s geophysical coherence." The fact that an objective function cannot be minimized and maximized simultaneously indicates that the Alisida is not unique. Global island chains other than the Alisida may better serve disciplines other than those of hydrology and geology.
Preface
Acknowledgments
Overview
Primary Island Set
Identification Parameters
Historical Parameters
First European Contact
Other Names of the Islands
Summary
Geographic Parameters
Locations of Islands
Island Affinities
Topologic Properties of the Islands
Summary
Physiographic Parameters
Size of Islands
Quantitative Descriptors of Island Groups
Qualitative Descriptors of Island Topographies
Qualitative Descriptors of Island Shapes
Dimensional Measures of Islands
Summary
Geologic Parameters
Relational Features of the Earth’s Surface
Geologic Classification
Volcanism
Geologic Topology
Summary
Hydrologic Parameters
Hydrologic Sketch
Summary
Economic Parameters
Sovereignty of Islands
Populations of Islands and Principal Centers
Principal Seaports and Airports
Local Time
Summary
Environmental Parameters
Local Meteorology of Islands
Climatic Markers
Hydrologic Classes
Summary
Supplemental Island Sets A and B
Windows on the Primary Island Set
References Cited
Abbreviations and Notation
Glossary
Foreign Terms
Technical Terms
Windows on the Primary Island Set
Window 1—Basic Information
Window 2—Historical Information
Window 3—Geographic Information
Window 4—Physiographic Information
Window 5—Topologic Information
Window 6—Geophysical Information
Window 7—Geologic Neighbors
Window 8—Demographic Information
Window 9—Geographic–Geologic–Sovereignty Affinities
Window 10—Port and Airport Information
Window 11—Meteorologic Information
Window 12—Climatic Information
Window 13—Names of Islands
Windows on the Supplemental Island Sets
Window A—Other Islands
Window B—Lagoonal Atolls
Appendixes
Appendix A—Size of the Earth
Appendix B—Geometric Measures of Islands
Appendix C—Notion of Compactness
Appendix D—Generation of Thematic Maps
Appendix E—Global Distribution of Islands
Appendix F—Partial Tracks of the Alisida
Appendix G—Global Distributions of Specific Hydrologic Features
Appendix H—Global Distribution of Islands per Sovereignty
Appendix I—Global Distributions of Specific Climatic Markers
Appendix J—Islands–Maps and General Information
Appendix K—Island Notes
Selected Bibliography
Bibliography
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U.S. Geological Survey,
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Building 810
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Denver, CO 80225-0286
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